Monthly Archives: September 2016

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About the Book

This book highlights how powerful people exercise that power. Politicians like Lloyd George and Gladstone, Kennedy and Clinton, Mussolini and Castro and Royalty like Edward VII and Edward VIII used it to attract women like butterflies to a flame. Sometimes they are newspaper magnates like the Harmsworths and Beaverbrook who tried dictating policy to Governments. Or con men like Bottomley and Maundy Gregory who used their power of persuasion to defraud greedy investors. Why do they do it? They all have an exaggerated self-belief in their own importance. For the predator, power is indeed, the ultimate aphrodisiac.

Excerpt

“Politicians are not the only ones to commit adultery, but they are the oneswhich tend to attract public opprobrium and cause public scandal. Kings and presidents do the same. Their behaviour, like that of other people, hasnot changed over the decades. A. J. P. Taylor suggests that Gladstone had identified six previous Prime Ministers in the 19th century, who had been adulterers. Sexual appetites grow no less as the years go by and politicians still feel able to indulge in such activities, in the confident belief that they will not be discovered. In an age of instant communication and intrusivemedia interest, it is unlikely now, certainly in Britain where there areeffectively no laws of privacy, that the love affairs of Asquith or Lloyd George, distinguished politicians and wartime Prime Ministers, wouldremain hidden from the general public for some fifty years. But it is not only politicians, or kings or presidents who want to exercise their power.Newspaper proprietors operate in a different field and use their power for arather different reason. They not only want to increase the sales of their publications but they also want to use that power, both to make policy, andto influence events.”

Amazon review:

5.0 out of 5 stars

A telling book explaining how those in power use it to control others

By Wordly Traveller on 16 Sept. 2016

Excellent book about how the powerful use their power to make themselves seemingly invincible and more attractive.Interesting historical references which include a diverse range of well-known politicians, media magnates, and royals, all abusing power to their own self-centred ends.Well worth reading!

Marie Claire Lim Moore builds on her first memoir, Don’t Forget the Soap, offering more entertaining stories about her family in this follow up. Like her first book, Don’t Forget the Parsley is a collection of anecdotes from different points in Claire’s life: stories from her second-generation immigrant childhood in Vancouver and New York City mix with recent expat experiences in Singapore and Hong Kong where she balances multiple roles as wife and mother, corporate executive and author. Her positively Filipino parents continue to have a big influence on her whether it comes to managing family and career, meeting heads of state and world leaders or simply making new friends. From stray observations (everything is funnier at church) and midnight anxieties (if Jessica Simpson gets to go to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, why shouldn’t I?) to life mantras (don’t let perfection hold you back) and litmus tests (would you serve drinks at my mother’s art show?), Claire’s warm and honest storytelling will resonate with readers and leave them smiling.

About the Author

Marie Claire Lim Moore is Filipina-Canadian-American banker, author and speaker. Her first book, Don’t Forget theSoap (And Other Reminders fromMy Fabulous Filipina Mother), became an Amazon.com best seller and was featured by GMA Network as one of the best books of 2013. After spending the early part of her childhood in Vancouver, Claire moved to New York City and attended the United Nations International School. She went on to study at Yale, climb the corporate ladder at Citi and travel around the world. She met her husband, Alex, while working in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and they married in Manila, Philippines shortly before moving to Singapore and most recently Hong Kong. Now Mom to Carlos, Isabel and Sofia, Claire also manages the Global Client business for Citi in Asia. Claire is passionate about promoting career-family balance through her talks as well as her writing. She is regularly ranked among leaders in the Asian and Filipino-American professional community and her experiences have been documented in The New York Times, USA Today, Smart Parenting and People Asia. In 2014, she received the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World Award™ (Global FWN100™) that recognizes Filipina women who are influencing the face of leadership in the global workplace.

Julieanne Lynch is an author of YA and Adult genre urban
fantasy books. Julieanne was born in Northern Ireland, but spent much of her
early life in London, United Kingdom, until her family relocated back to their
roots.

Julieanne lives in Northern Ireland, with her husband and five children, where
she is a full-time author. She studied English Literature and Creative Writing
at The Open University, and considered journalism as a career path. Julieanne
has several projects optioned for film.

Are you fed up with politics, payoffs, corporate mega-profits at a cost to taxpayers, immunization of white collar crime, bribes and favors guiding the decisions made by our elected officials? Have you had ENOUGH of politics? There is only one way to fix it – rewrite the rules. It can be done!

Midwest Book Review “Highly Recommended”

Billionaires and Bagmen: What Happens When A Small Town Takes Them On, offers a surprising solution to the question many people are asking since the Conventions: How can we take our lives back from an over-reaching government, Wall Street power brokers, lobbyist-written laws, the billionaires who buy them off and candidates we don’t like?

His answer is for local governments to simply ignore Big Brother’s rules and write their own. All across America, town by town, regardless of who is president or who big money controls. It’s called Civil Disobedience.

History is full with examples of people refusing to abide by laws they consider unjust or immoral. In Billionaires and Bagmen, Bourhis explores the possibility of a whole town doing just that. This entertaining political thriller, described by the Midwest Book Review as “deftly crafted and compelling,” also a blueprint of how it could be done.

Sean Cogan, a funny, prickly, charismatic economist turned venture capitalist, is convinced that our system is no longer “of, by and for the people,” that all three branches of government are bought and paid for, and that reform efforts are a complete joke. He believes that no matter who happens to be President, we have become a nation held in a vice grip by powerful billionaires, corrupt multinational corporations and their bagmen: the politicians and lobbyists who carry out their agendas.

Billionaires and Bagmen – What Happens When a Small Town Takes Them OnHe gathers up a few old high school friends in their small town and decides to shake things up. Sean convinces them that if something dramatic doesn’t happen now, the very concept of self-government will become obsolete.

He heads to town hall, plunks down $250 and registers an initiative to be put on the November ballot for his hometown of Fairview to declare its independence from everybody. Jen Renton, a gorgeous, burned-out corporate lawyer who has morphed into a Tibetan Buddhist massage therapist; Ollie Waterson, Sean’s political opposite, with an “Don’t Tread On Me!” bumper sticker on his HumVee and a couple other friends become part of his team.

From a savvy newspaper reporter to a secretive former CIA agent who knows how the game is played to the idiot alcoholic mayor of the town who tries to sabotage the initiative to a controversial talk show host with an agenda, things start to spin out of control. Particularly when the powers that be in Washington become concerned that this independence movement could take on a life of its own.

Cogan and his gang plow ahead in spite of the collusion of spies, lobbyists, a controversial talk show host and a whole boatload of other unsavory characters. It’s an exciting, scary and dangerous ride.

Jess Lucas works hard at the all-female PI firm Brash & Brazen, and after a brush with death, she’s determined to play hard too—preferably with a certain detective on the Ann Arbor police force . . .

Jess was stuck at a frenemy’s wedding, playing bridesmaid in a mustard-yellow monstrosity, when chaos erupted. First the bride’s ex tried to stop the wedding. Then someone really put a damper on the big day by sending a bullet through a stained glass window and into one of the groomsmen. At least her ugly dress came in handy to stop the bleeding . . .

While the poor guy is rushed to the ER, Jess gets grilled by a gorgeous cop who’s not thrilled to learn she’s part PI and part pit bull. But he has to admit she’s highly observant . . . and he observes that she’s pretty hot, too.

The thing is, Jess was walking up the same aisle as the victim, and Sam suspects she was the real target. It’s more than professional duty that makes him want to protect her—if he doesn’t arrest her first for interfering in his investigation . . .

MEET THE AUTHOR

A fan of romance fiction since the dark ages, author Cheryl Ann Smith loves to throw her heroines into danger, just to see what they’ll do. Her dream of publication came true in 2011 when the first in her historical romance series came out with Berkley Sensation. And starting on September 13th 2016, she’ll launch an exciting a new contemporary romance series with Kensington’s Lyrical Press. These books will mix her crazy sense of humor with the adventures of a trio of female private investigators, who are the kick-ass heroines Cheryl has always wanted to be.

While growing up, Cheryl never dreamed of being a writer. Then one afternoon she got a crazy idea and decided to write her own book. It took over five years, a marriage, and the births of her children to finish the manuscript. It was a hundred pages too long and thin on plot, but she took immense satisfaction in her accomplishment.

Naively, she was sure that book would sell to great fanfare. Agents and editors were less than enthusiastic. Thankfully, she stumbled onto Romance Writers of America soon after and that book got filed away forever. Since then her plots have improved and her page counts and writing time per book have been cut considerably.

Cheryl lives in Michigan with her family, two cats and a very hairy dog. She enjoys outdoor adventures and traveling, when she has the time, and hopes to make her first visits to Europe and Australia in the very near future.

Please join author Paulette Harper as she tours the blogosphere with Write Now Literary Book Tours and her new release Secret Places Revealed, on September 27, 2016. Publication Date: September 16, 2016Paperback: 342 pagesGenre: Inspirational RomanceISBN-10: 0989969150ISBN-13: 978-0989969154

ASIN: B01M0GXCGB

In celebration of Paulette’s upcoming release, Secret Places Revealed, she’s giving away one (1) autographed copy of Secret Places Revealed.This contest is open for US only through October, 7, 2016Rafflecopter giveaway

A broken man, a woman on the run, a love that won’t be denied.Single—and very content—real estate developer Aaron Blackman is determined not to become involved in another relationship. He’s experienced enough drama to last a lifetime. The only thing garnering his attention now is his growing business. And he plans to keep it that way. Then Simone Herron waltzes into his life, beautiful and confident. Fighting to keep his promise to himself—to remain single—he soon discovers that when it comes to love, some promises must be broken.After losing her fiancé in an untimely death, Simone Herron relocates. She desperately needs to put the past behind her and start a new chapter in her life. While love is the farthest thing from her mind, she experiences an attraction to the handsome Aaron Blackman that frightens her. She’s built a wall around her heart, but can she find the strength and courage she needs to welcome love again? To do so, she must conquer her fears and allow God to put all of her broken pieces back together.

Fearing she carries her mother’s curse of marriage, nineteen-year-old Eleanor Mackenna swore never to vow herself into matrimonial bondage. Nuptials aren’t needed where true love is concerned. A concept she is sure a man like McCrea Coldiron would agree with. The town gossip has him pegged as a heart breaker, but Eleanor knows a different side to McCrea. And years of loving him without seeing his affection returned has made her desperate enough to ask him for advice on seducing a man.

McCrea isn’t proud of his reputation as a brawler and a womanizer. As a teenager the rumors were funny, now they may cost him the land he has worked so hard for. Chatty little Eleanor Mackenna has been chasing his spurs for years and ignoring her was easy to do until she grew up. A beautiful face and curves in all the right places made her hard to resist, and when his granddad lays down an ultimatum to make her his wife, McCrea offers her a first class lesson in seduction.

Wilhelmina Stolen is a native of Kentucky and makes her home in a small southern town close to the Tennessee line. During her adolescence, her mother’s free spirited nature became restless causing the family to embark on a slew of adventurous moves across the country. The moves provoked a hunger for adventure and romance and introduced her to a wonderful world of history and beauty.

As with most writers, her stories began at an early age with long sessions of seclusion and secrecy. While her classmates and friends were outside playing, Shannon was locked away in her room hammering out ideas on an old 1940’s Royal typewriter.

After finding Mr. Right, Shannon found herself wanting the comfort and security of the small Kentucky town she longed to escape as a child. Fortune smiled upon her and she became the family historian; gathering pictures, wills, marriage certificates and everything else that somehow managed to fall into her lap. Stories flooded her mind and writing quickly became an obsession that turned into the Way of Hearts Saga.

2 – What is one piece of advice you could give to a new author that you wish someone had passed to you?

There isn’t a formula to writing good romance. Write your story your way and believe in it when you present it. I think aspiring author sometimes mistake rejection as a quality of their work and that’s not always true.

3 – Do you have any pets?

Five dogs, a cat and three miniature horses.

4 – What do you do in your spare time when you’re not writing?

I enjoy reading, gardening, cooking, spending time outdoors and traveling.

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To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page

Set in London, Wiltshire and Orkney, There Came a Big Spider sees the ever exuberant Marcus Moon attempting to climb the ladder of success at his new company. Bitterly resented by an ambitious colleague who sees him as a rival, they are put together to oversee the design of a large government project. When Marcus is asked if he can minimize the adverse ecological effects of the design on the beautiful countryside round the market town of Kingscastle, his work leads him into the hilarious world of office politics, sexual deviance, protest groups and buried treasure. A sometimes zany, always enjoyable plot full of humour and energy, this is the eagerly awaited prequel to the popular Marcus Moon series. Light entertainment at its very best!

A well-constructed continuation of Terry’s series of books with that anti-hero Marcus Moon having a whale of a time while keeping his feet on the ground, winning some and losing some battles. Looking forward to the next book and if it is as good as this one then it will be money well spent, again.

The Captain No Beard series has nine published books in the series. They all take place in the imagination of a young boy who pretends he and his friends are pirates. Each book teaches valuable lessons. The Captain No Beard series can open discussions on important subjects such as sharing, bossiness, bullying, responsibility, and stranger danger. Using imagination, the crew of the Flying Dragon navigates the waters of the world, learning valuable lessons along the way. Whether the topic is sharing, tolerance, stranger danger or bullying, the crew resolves their issues together with humor and sensitivity.

About the Author

Award-winning author Carole P. Roman started writing as a dare from one of her sons and combines her teaching past with her love of exploration and interest in the world around us. She has two highly successful series and is launching this new exciting series about civilizations throughout time. While she is still working in her family business, this has enabled her to share her sense of humor as well as love for history and culture with the audience she adores. Roman lives on Long Island with her husband and near her children.

My day started in an upside-down race against the clock. No joke, at the stroke of midnight, I was suspended midair with my feet up and head down, looking over a room full of priceless artifacts. I’d tell you this isn’t my norm, but I’m not a liar, just a thief.

Thanks to the deities in her family tree, Romi has been enslaved to a life of larceny since birth. Well, except for that one night, four years ago, when the goddess of love and debauchery sprang her from her prison, slipped her some sort of magical roofie, and introduced her to an irresistible blacksmith for a little tryst resulting in a child. So when two powerful gods show up and offer her a way out of her thieving lifestyle for good, she jumps at the opportunity. All she has to do is blow on a magical sword and imbue it with luck.

Then she can finally find that guy she’s been dreaming about and introduce him to their son. If only she knew the blacksmith’s name…

But when the same gods use the sword to rip Zeus’s essence from his body, Romi’s son is kidnapped and held for ransom. Now Romi, her mysterious fling, and her teenage griffin babysitter have to steal back Zeus’s essence from a cast of powerful gods, or they’ll lose the child forever.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amanda Washington is a lover of wacky animals, enthralling books, dark chocolate, and red wine. She’s always up for a good adventure (real or fictional), and when she’s not building imaginary worlds, she’s dipping her toes into reality in southwest Washington with her husband and their boys.